MormyridaeThe Mormyridae, sometimes called elephantfish (more properly freshwater elephantfish), are a family of weakly electric fish in the order Osteoglossiformes native to Africa. It is by far the largest family in the order, with around 200 species. Members of the family can be popular, if challenging, aquarium species. These fish have a large brain size and unusually high intelligence.
Stargazer (fish)The stargazers are a family, Uranoscopidae (from Ancient Greek οὐρανός (ouranós), meaning "sky, heaven", and σκοπέω (skopéō), meaning "to look"), of perciformray-finned fish that have eyes on top of their heads (hence the name). The family includes about 51 species (one extinct) in eight genera, all marine and found worldwide in shallow and deep saltwaters.
Electroreception and electrogenesisElectroreception and electrogenesis are the closely related biological abilities to perceive electrical stimuli and to generate electric fields. Both are used to locate prey; stronger electric discharges are used in a few groups of fishes, such as the electric eel, to stun prey. The capabilities are found almost exclusively in aquatic or amphibious animals, since water is a much better conductor of electricity than air.
Electric organ (fish)In biology, the electric organ is an organ that an electric fish uses to create an electric field. Electric organs are derived from modified muscle or in some cases nerve tissue, called electrocytes, and have evolved at least six times among the elasmobranchs and teleosts. These fish use their electric discharges for navigation, communication, mating, defence, and in strongly electric fish also for the incapacitation of prey.
HypopomidaeThe Hypopomidae are a family of fishes in the order Gymnotiformes known as the bluntnose knifefish. They may also be called grass or leaf knifefishes. These electric fish are not often eaten, of little commercial importance, rarely kept as aquarium fish, and poorly studied; however, species in this family may constitute a significant fraction of the biomass in the areas they inhabit. These fish originate from fresh water in Panama and South America.
FishA fish is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrateanimal with a tough cranium to protect the brain, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basaljawless fish and the more common jawed fish, the latter including all livingcartilaginous and bony fish, as well as the extinct placoderms and acanthodians.
Clarias gariepinusClarias gariepinus or African sharptooth catfish is a species of catfish of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes. DistributionThey are found throughout Africa and the Middle East, and live in freshwater lakes, rivers, and swamps, as well as human-made habitats, such as oxidation ponds or even urban sewage systems.
Anti-predator adaptationAnti-predator adaptations are mechanisms developed through evolution that assist prey organisms in their constant struggle against predators. Throughout the animal kingdom, adaptations have evolved for every stage of this struggle, namely by avoiding detection, warding off attack, fighting back, or escaping when found.
Signalling theoryTheory in evolutionary biologyBy stotting (also called pronking), a springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) signals honestly to predators that it is young, fit, and not worth chasing.Within evolutionary biology, signalling theory is a body of theoretical work examining communication between individuals, both within species and across species.
MuscleMuscle is a specialised soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissues. There are three types of muscle tissues in vertebrates: skeletal muscle tissue, cardiac muscle tissue, and smooth muscle tissue. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to contract and relax. Muscle tissue contains special contractile proteins called actin and myosin which interact to cause movement.
NerveA nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons). Nerves have historically been considered the basic units of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses called action potentials that are transmitted along each of the axons to peripheral organs or, in the case of sensory nerves, from the periphery back to the central nervous system.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.